public officials may be removed from office before the expiration of their term by a direct vote of the people. The recall is now in operation to a greater or less extent in ten states. The initiative, referendum and recall, as such, are not found in Iowa. The principle of the initiative and referendum, however, is found in the matter of proposing and voting bonds for the erection of buildings or other local improvements. The referendum principle is found also in the provision of submitting constitutional amendments to a vote of the people.

QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

1. Why was the "Bill of Rights" included in the constitution? Do you think it was really necessary to include it?

2. Name the inalienable rights. Which are most important?

3. What is meant by religious freedom? Do any countries establish a uniform religion today? Why did the Pilgrims come to America?

4. Does liberty of speech give you the right to circulate falsehoods?

5. What advantages are there in a trial by jury? Do you think justice would be carried out better if we were to have a jury of three impartial judges who are thoroughly versed in law instead of our present jury? Ask some lawyer who decides questions of fact and who decides questions of law in a trial.

6. Why should not a person be tried more than once for the same offense?

7. Define habeas corpus, treason and bill of attainder. 8. The General Assembly passed a compulsory education law in 1902. Could parents of pupils who did not

attend school in 1901 be fined? What term is used to apply to a law of this kind?

9. May a foreigner living in Iowa own property? May he have the right to a trial by jury? May he demand the right to vote? What are the qualifications for voters in Iowa?

10. May women vote in Iowa? In what states do they have the same right of suffrage as men? What classes of people are excluded from suffrage?

11. What political abuses are corrected by the secret ballot? Where did this method of voting originate? Describe the process of marking a ballot and voting.

12. What is the convention system of nomination? What is the primary election system?

13. What are the advantages of the "short ballot"? Would a reduction of the number of elective officers deprive the people of power? What redress would the people have if the governor made unwise appointments?

14. Woman Suffrage, Primary Elections, Short Ballot and an Educational Qualification for Voting are suggested as good subjects for class debates or for investigation.

CHAPTER III

THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT

ARTICLE III

DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS

Branches of Government. Government, both state and national, is divided into three branches :-legislative, executive and judicial. Provision for this division is made in Article III of the Constitution of Iowa. It is intended that each branch shall be independent of the others, but this is not always possible. Each state in the Union has a constitution which provides for these three branches and defines the powers of each. The legislative branch is also called the law-making power; the executive branch, the lawenforcing power, and the judicial branch, the law-interpreting power.

The legislative branch of government in Iowa is called the General Assembly, or state legislature. It consists of a senate and a house of representatives. The style, or heading, of every law passed by the General Assembly is: Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Iowa. The sessions are biennial and are designated by number. By consulting the daily papers when the legislature is in session you can learn the number of the General Assembly in which you should have particular interest.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Members. The house of representatives, or lower house, as it is sometimes called, is composed of members

chosen every second year by the qualified voters of their respective districts. A representative must be a male citizen of the United States, at least twenty-one years of age. He must have been an inhabitant of the state of Iowa one year next preceding his election, and, at the time of his election, must have had an actual residence of sixty days in the county or district he is chosen to represent.

Apportionment. The house of representatives now consists of 108 members, the largest number possible under the constitution. The number of representative districts is 99, and the ratio of representation is practically one representative for every 27,900 inhabitants or fraction thereof exceeding one-half the required number in the district. As the population of the state increases, it becomes necessary to increase the ratio of representation. This may be done at any regular session of the General Assembly. No representative district can contain more than four counties, and each district is entitled to at least one representative.

Section 33, of Article III, of the constitution, says: "The General Assembly shall, in the years 1859, 1863, 1865, 1867, 1869, 1875, and every ten years thereafter, cause an enumeration to be made of all the inhabitants of the state." These enumerations, together with the United States census, taken in the last year of each regular decade, enable the General Assembly to apportion the senators and representatives among the several districts.

Election. The members of the house of representatives are chosen at the general election, held on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November of each even-numbered year. In some of the states, the meetings of the legislature are held every year, and the members in such instances are elected annually.

When vacancies occur in either house, it is the duty of